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  • Faster internet speed for Mona residents could be on the way, if council approves permit


By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent

One telecommunications pole was approved for a building and digging permit to help increase the internet speed for customers in Mona.

However, the council still wanted to negotiate with Jens Mickelson, representing JC Mickelson Inc., about the cost the city thought he should pay for having such a pole in the city.

“I don’t think it should be for free,” said Mike Stringer, council member, “I think there should be a charge.”

The council also was concerned about the fee they imposed for digging and building permits. It was normally $50 but they were interested in finding out what other cities, such as Nephi, charged.

The installation would take two inspections.

Mickelson was proposing the pole for a field at the edge of the city and had talked to the property owners who indicated they were fine with its installation.

Lynn Ingram, city planning commission chairman, said that the planning commission had reviewed the request and had recommended that Mickelson come to the city council for direction.

NeboNet is a high-speed fixed wireless internet service provider based in Utah covering parts of Juab County, Utah County and Box Elder County.

Mickelson, who is the owner/operator of NeboNet, requested that he be allowed to place a utility pole to support an antenna to increase internet speeds to his customers in Mona.

“Remember when we did dial up for internet in the home?” asked Mickelson.

Now the speeds needed by a customer to allow such services as internet streaming continues to increase. Keeping up with the demand takes continual improvement.

Streaming television (also known as streaming TV, online TV, or Internet TV) is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming video delivered over the Internet.

Movies and TV shows can be viewed online or streamed right to a smart TV, smart phone, game console, PC, Mac, mobile, tablet and more.

“I have been providing service for 15 years,” said Mickelson. “I have two sites on the West Hills.”

He said that the power pole he would like to install would be 70-feet above ground and 10-feet below ground. It is tall but most people don’t really notice the height of a pole because, in today’s world, they are used to seeing them.

“Most people do not look up,” he said. “They look out.”

He had installed a similar pole in Nephi by the former Shopko store and thought that few people had even noticed it in the four months it had been there.

The pole would be wooden and would be, for comparison’s sake, 18-feet taller than lights at the ballfield.

“Just don’t try to disguise it,” said Bill Mills, mayor. “When I was traveling, I saw one that had been disguised as a pine tree and it was disgusting.”

Mickelson said that customers wanted 20 to 100 megs or Mbps (megabits per second) per home.

“Usually it takes about 5 megs per device in the home,” said Mickelson.

He said that keeping up with the demand for higher speeds and the ability to provide for more devices in a home as problems that were universal and that there was congestion traffic worldwide.

He had been providing internet locally for about 20 years and prided himself on fast customer support.

“CentraCom pays the city a line fee of $70,” said Stringer.

There are a number of reasons for choosing an aerial solution, such as the fact that it is much faster and cheaper to deploy than buried networks.

“We commend you for trying to improve internet speed for your customers in the community,” said Mills.